Collections of Resources on Education for Sustainability and Green Living

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Creative anti-coal campaign in Vietnam

VIETNAMESE
PUBLIC JOIN CELEBRITIES TO SAY

"I CAN'T" TO COAL POLLUTION

HO CHI MINH CITY,
06 APRIL 2016, Today
CHANGE/350.org Vietnam officially releasesthe I Can't campaign in its
entirety with three photo album with the overarching message of
“Don’t let coal pollution destroy your life." The photo albums portray the
deadly impacts of emission from coal-fired power plants, which are the greatest
single threat to the climate and cause over 800,000 premature deaths worldwide
annually [1].

The
first album – the "Artists Edition" –involves eight hugely popular
Vietnamese singers, actors and performers: including the head of SOUL Music and
Performing Arts Academy Thanh Bui, songwriter Tien Tien, singer Trong Hieu,
singer Bich Ngoc, singer Hoang Quyen, actress Diem My, international
choreographer Alexander Tu and dancer Do Hai Anh (please see descriptions
below). They are transformed into different characters wearing gas masks to
demonstrate the struggle they will have to go through in a coal-polluted
Vietnam.

“I devote myself to inspiring my students and
pointing them in the right direction in life. I want them to have a clean safe
environment so that they can grow and shine while pursuing their dreams.
However, their dreams, life and future are seriously threatened by the worsened
air pollution caused by coal. As a teacher and an artist, I feel the
responsibility to speak up. Now or never” – said Thanh Bui, sharing his reason
for participating in the creative campaign.

The second album – the "Family Edition" – looks at
the family dynamics affected by coal plants. Five families participate with
different stories: three families worrying about their children's future
breathing polluted air, newly-weds fearful of forgetting each other's face
under the gas masks, and a busy married couple who cannot express love under
the masks in the limited time they have for each other.

Photographer Vu Bao Khanh the director of the "Family
Edition" album – shares his apprehension during the shoot: "In the
imminent future where air quality is extremely bad, just the act of breathing
will harm people's health. The gas masks from the Soviet Union era originally
only for toxic working environment, are now needed for all social classes and
ages. Life will go on, but with extreme uneasiness under the masks."

The third album – the "Everyday Life Edition" – is
carried out by youth volunteers passionate about protecting the environment.
The album again highlights the inconveniences of wearing gas masks in different
locations: at the park, the market, and especially at an actual coal-fired
power plant: the controversial Vinh Tan plant in Binh Thuan province.

In
the coming months, I Can't will
continue to raise public awareness for major cities and towns affected by air
pollution from coal, and inspire individuals to become more concerned about
environmental issues and understand the country's energy plans. Vietnam has the
third largest pipeline of new coal plants in the world, with the government
planning to build a massive 55 Gigawatts of new coal by 2030 [2]. According to
a report by Harvard University, pollution from coal-fired power plants already
causes 4,300 premature deaths in Vietnam annually [3]. Yet coal-generated
electricity is still expected to account for more than 50% of the total energy
production in Vietnam for the next 15 years [4].

The
campaign, sponsored by the Global GreenGrants Fund and the Vietnam Sustainable
Energy Alliance (VSEA) and supported by creative agency Rabbat, is the
follow-up activity to a photo album of the same name, launched on social media
in 2014, and of the Climate Action Festival POWER
UP which enjoyed the participation of over 20 acclaimed artists and 1,500
youths in Ho Chi Minh City in November 2015.

Other activities in the
campaign to engage the community include “Gas Mask Challenge”, the “Create I Can’t Slogan” competition and others
on different social network platforms: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This is
a chance for the Vietnamese to join the fight against climate change, demand
changes to the country’s energy policy and spread the message even further
among the public.

List of eight performers and their individual photo concepts
are as follows:

·Artist
Thanh Bui – principal of SOUL Music and Performing Arts Academy: image of a
teacher sitting beside his broken piano, unable to teach while his students
also struggle to learn in their gas masks.

·Songwriter
Tien Tien: image of a young artist holding a broken guitar, feeling hopeless as
she cannot continue her dream.

·Singer
Trong Hieu – Vietnam Idol 2015 Winner: image of a singer longing to free his
voice from the gas mask and escape from the destroyed world.

·Singer
Bich Ngoc – Vietnam Idol 2015 Runner-up: image of a nightingale not only losing
her beautiful voice, but also facing death from pollution and climate change.

·Singer
Hoang Quyen – Vietnam Idol 2012 Runner-up: image of a mermaid living a tragic
and hopeless life as she is unable to let out her charming voice.

·Actress
Diem My: image of an actress unable to continue the art of acting in a world in
ruins.

·International
choreographer Alexander Tu – Director of Performance Department at Soul: image
of a dancer constrained from dancing in a broken world.

·Dancer
Do Hai Anh – So You Think You Can Dance 2015 Winner: image of a swan with
broken wings devastated when realizing that her dancing dream has ended because
of pollution and climate change.

About
CHANGE

Center of Hands-on Actions and Networking for
Growth and Environment (CHANGE), registered under the Vietnam Union of
Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA) is a Vietnamese non-profit
organization. CHANGE is the official national partner of 350.org in Vietnam.
The organization aims to develop and mobilize resources in order to raise
awareness, change behavior and build capacity for the community to tackle
environmental and climate change issues.